SPRINGFIELD, MA – The American Hockey League and Houston Aeros announced today that Houston Aeros Head Coach Todd McLellan will coach the PlanetUSA All-Star Team at the AHL All-Star Game on February 3 in Portland, Maine.



McLellan has guided the Aeros to a record of 27 wins, 11 losses and four ties and first place in the Western Conference. He replaces Claude Julien as the PlanetUSA head coach. Julien, the former coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs, was hired Friday to be the new head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. The Aeros owned the AHL’s second best record (trailing Hamilton) on Jan. 12, the pre-determined cut-off date to choose the PlanetUSA coach.



McLellan, 35, led the Aeros to a hot start with an eight-game winning streak, the best in team history. Also, the Aeros recently had a 13-game unbeaten streak (11-0-2), which tied the team record for longest unbeaten stretch (12-0-1, Dec. 20, 1996 – Jan. 16, 1997). He will face two of his players, left wing Jean-Guy Trudel and defenseman Travis Roche, in the All-Star Game as both will be playing for the Canadian AHL All-Star Team.



Currently in his second season behind the bench in Houston, McLellan guided the Aeros to 39-26-10-5 record last season and advanced to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to the eventual Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves. Prior to joining the Minnesota Wild organization, the Melville, Sask.-native spent six years with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League as head coach and was general manager for four of those seasons.



McLellan will be joined behind the bench by the Hamilton Bulldogs’ interim head coach Geoff Ward. Chicago Wolves Head Coach John Anderson will coach the Canadian All-Star Team by virtue of leading the Wolves to the 2002 Calder Cup championship.



The 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic gets underway on Sunday, February 2, with the 2003 Pepsi AHL All-Star Skills Competition at 8:00 p.m. ET at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. The annual All-Star Game follows at 7:00 p.m. ET on Monday, February 3, and will be televised live in the United States and Canada.